Sunday, November 16, 2008

I'll admit, the first I heard of the band was an accidental download of their "Ziggy Stardust" cover. Their prime time was a little before mine, and if I had listened to them in junior high, I probably wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I do now.

One song--if you can even call it a song--stands out as a dark musical masterpiece. "Bella Lugosi's Dead" (known by some from the snooze-fest movie, The Hunger) is an amazing piece of noise. The lyrics are perfect for monster lovers: "The virginal brides file past his tomb..."

Other tunes stand out as deliciously dark and creepy..."Silent Hedges", "Hollow Hills"--the titles alone would make nice horror films/stories/novels.

At times the music is too new wave/post disco for this monster fan, but I'll suffer through the pulsing high hat just to have a taste of lead singer Peter Murphy's haunting voice, the scratchy guitars and menacing bass.